Chapter 11: Organic Chemistry. Saturated Hydrocarbons

11.1 Organic and Inorganic Compounds

Historically, organic chemicals have been associated with living systems. This association

originally derived from the belief that only living entities (i.e. plants and animals) could make

organic chemicals. Indeed, until 1828 all attempts to prepare any organic chemical from

exclusively inorganic reagents failed.

Before we go further, we need to define what an “organic” chemical is, as compared to an

“inorganic” chemical. Unfortunately, there is no ironclad dividing line between these classes of

chemicals. Nonetheless, we have a few guidelines that work for the vast majority of compounds.

(You’ll see few, if any, exceptions.)

1) Organic compounds always contain only p-block elements (Groups III-VII), at least one

of which must be carbon.

2) Organic compounds almost always contain one or more C-H bonds.

3) Organic compounds are almost always molecules (as opposed to salts). Thus, all bonds

are typically covalent in organic compounds.

Methane (CH4) is the prototypical organic molecule. Stick drawings of methane and some

other organic molecules follow.

H

CH H

H

C

CC

C

CC

H3CC

CH3

O

CH3

O2N

H

NO2

H

NO2

methane(natural gas)

2,4,6-trinitrotoluene(TNT, explosive)

acetone(nail polish remover)

H3CC

OH

O

acetic acid(vinegar)

H3CCH2

OH

ethanol(gasohol, beer)

C

CC

C

CC

H

H

H

H

C

COH

O

CH3

O

2-acetylbenzoic acid(acetylsalicylic acid,aspirin)

2

Although uncommon, there are organic compounds that don’t contain a C-H bond. For

example, CCl4 is almost always classified as organic. There are two reasons for this. First, the

series CH4, CH3Cl, CH2Cl2, and CHCl3 are all organic and CCl4 is simply the final member of

the series, and second, in nearly all respects it behaves chemically like the other compounds in

this group. Likewise, although it is an ionic compound, [(CH3)4N][CH3CO2]

(tetramethylammonium acetate), would typically be considered an organic compound. (We will

get to how to name organic compounds later.)

It is interesting that the very first “organic” compound prepared from exclusively inorganic

reagents is now considered an inorganic compound. In 1828, Freidrich Wöhlers decomposed

ammonium cyanate by boiling an aqueous solution of the chemical and obtained urea, a major

constituent of urine.

This experiment caused others to begin examining whether organic chemicals could

generally be prepared from inorganic chemicals and it was quickly shown that there was nothing

special about living systems in the synthesis of organic compounds.

Some general properties of organic compounds include:

1) Like all molecular compounds, organic molecules typically have low melting points (in fact

many are liquids at room temperature). This is because London forces and dipole-dipole

interactions are usually the forces acting between molecules (p. 161).

2) They tend to have low molecular polarities.

3) Poor water solubility. Few organic molecules are readily soluble in water. (Although the 3

oxygen containing molecules on p. 1 are quite water soluble. We’ll see why later.)

4) Poor electrical conductivity. Few pure organic substances conduct electricity well. (There

NH4NCO∆

H2NCNH2

O

H2O

3

are no ions to help carry the charges.)

11.2 Some Structural Features of Organic Compounds

Communication is central to any field including chemistry. The structures you saw earlier

have the advantage of conveying a large amount of information about the spatial arrangement of

the atoms in a molecule. Each (except methane) contains some condensed structural

information. The problem with these structures is that they take up a lot of space, which makes

their use in normal text cumbersome. Furthermore, even when used to convey structural

information, they take a good deal of effort to write out. In this section we will discuss a number

of different ways to write out molecular formulas and see how they provide information to the

reader.

Let’s begin with methane, CH4. You already know that hydrogen only forms 1 bond and

that carbon tends to form 4 bonds. Thus the most reasonable structure is one in which you have

4 hydrogens, each connected to the carbon by a single bond. Furthermore, from Chapter 4.8, p.

105, you know that molecules with 4 bonds around a central atom with no lone pairs on the

central atom are tetrahedral in shape. Because of this there is no good reason to draw a picture of

methane, as opposed to simply writing out CH4.

Ethanol is different however. If we simply write out C2H6O, it turns out there are two

different structures that can drawn from this molecular formula:

H

C C

H

H O H

H

H

H C

H

H

O C

H

H

H.... ..

..

ethanol dimethyl ether

4

Thus a simple molecular formula isn’t all that helpful in this situation. In fact, they are

rarely useful in organic chemistry. We can use a slightly expanded molecular formula and still

get a good deal of structural information, however. If we write ethanol as CH3CH2OH and

dimethyl ether as CH3OCH3 we get the same information as in the pictures if we apply the rules

for drawing Lewis structures to them and we do so using less space.

Another shortcut we can use involves repeating groups. Consider the molecule octane:

We could write this out as CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH3, but this too is cumbersome

and is prone to either the writer or reader miscounting the number of CH2 groups. These same

types of problems exist when writing the formulae of cyclic molecules as text. We can shorten

this long string to CH3(CH2)6CH3. Again, if we apply the rules of drawing Lewis structures,

there is only one way to draw the structure of this molecule.

When drawing structural formulas, there is a different simplification organic chemists

employ. We have already seen that organic compounds tend to have a lot of C-H bonds. Thus

we simplify by assuming that carbon forms four bonds and that any bond to carbon that is not

explicitly shown is a C-H bond. We simplify one step further by not bothering to actually draw

in the letter C. In this case, octane becomes:

In this structure, each vertex is a carbon atom. The terminal carbons each have one C-C

bond so they must have 3 C-H bonds as well. The middle carbons each have 2 C-C bonds, and

H

C C

H

H C C

H

H

H

H

H

H

C

H

H

C

H

H

C

H

H

C

H

H

H

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so have 2 C-H bonds. Using this notation we can simplify some of the structures shown on the

first page to

Although you may find that it takes a little while to get used to drawing structures this way,

you will find it makes your life much simpler in the long run.

We now turn to some odds-and-ends of discussing structures. First the octane molecule

shown earlier is a straight chain structure. Don’t take this as literal truth. In fact each carbon is

tetrahedral, and if each CH3 in octane were grasped and pulled apart, a structure much like the

drawing above (for octane, with the zigzag line) would result. When CxHy groups appear off the

“straight chain” a branched chain molecule results. Thus 2-methylheptane would look like:

Double and triple bonds are usually written explicitly. For example, propene can be written

out in any of the following ways:

OO2N

NO2

NO2

2,4,6-trinitrotolueneacetone

OH

O

acetic acid

OH

ethanol

or CH3CHCH2CH2CH2CH2CH3

CH3

CH3CH(CH2)4CH3

CH3or

or (CH3)2CH(CH2)4CH3

C C C

H

H

H

H H

H

H3CCH

CH2CH3CH=CH2

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There exists free rotation about single bonds. In other words, if you had CH3Cl and grasped

the chlorine atom, the CH3 group would spin like a propeller. What this means is that in a flask

containing octane, all of the molecules aren’t strung out like the picture, but rather they twist and

coil and constantly reorient themselves. This will become important when we get to

biochemistry.

11.3 Isomerism

Molecules possessing the same molecular formula but exhibiting different structures are

called isomers. One of the reasons we use structural formulae is to show this explicitly. We

have seen two examples of this so far. The first was shown explicitly, ethanol (CH3CH2OH) vs.

dimethyl ether (CH3OCH3) (p. 3 of the notes). Can you figure out the other (answer next

paragraph)?

There are actually several types of isomers but the only one we will be concerned with now

are constitutional isomers. These are molecules that have the same numbers and types of atoms,

but different atomic connectivities. We will see other types of isomers later. The other isomers

are octane and 2-methylheptane (both are C8H18).

The properties of isomers may be very similar to one another (as is the case for octane & 2-

methylheptane) or they may be quite different (see Table 11.1, p. 335 of your book for ethanol

vs. dimethyl ether).

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11.4 Functional Groups

The basic unit of organic chemistry is a molecule consisting of only carbon and hydrogen

with only C-C and C-H single bonds. The variety found in organic chemicals largely derives

from the replacement of hydrogen atoms with other groups, or the presence of C-C double and

triple bonds. Collectively, these collections of atoms are called functional groups. A table (11.2)

of important functional groups appears on p. 337 of your book. We will discuss most of these in

Chapters 12 – 16 and all of them in the biochemistry chapters.

There are a few points worth mentioning here. Molecules possessing the same functional

groups frequently exhibit similar properties. For example, amines are molecules possessing an

-NH2 group. Just like ammonia (NH3) is water soluble, CH3NH2 (methyl amine) and

CH3CH2NH2 (ethyl amine) are water soluble. Both organic amines have unpleasant odors

(actually worse than NH3) and form basic solutions when dissolved in water just like ammonia.

Another feature of functional group chemistry is that the functional groups affect properties

less as the molecules become larger. Let’s look at the solubility of alcohols in water as the

organic groups get larger:

Alcohol Solubility (per 100 g of H2O at 20 ºC) CH3OH any amount CH3CH2OH any amount CH3CH2CH2OH any amount CH3CH2CH2CH2OH 7.9 g CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2OH 2.7 g CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2OH 0.6 g

When a molecule contains more than one of the same functional group, the effect of the

functional group on properties typically becomes more pronounced. Again let’s look at a series

of alcohols.

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Compound Boiling Point CH3CH3 -88 ºC

CH3CH2OH 78 ºC HOCH2CH2OH 197 ºC

As we will see later in the semester, when a molecule contains two or more different

functional groups the changes in physical properties may roughly average or unusual effects may

occur.

11.5 Alkanes and Cycloalkanes

The simplest, most fundamental class of organic molecules is the alkanes. These are

molecules consisting only of carbon and hydrogen with only C-H and C-C single bonds. Those

alkanes that form rings are called cycloalkanes. Methane (CH4) and ethane (CH3CH3) are

alkanes. Cyclohexane (C6H12) is a cycloalkane. It can be represented by either of the two

structures below. The second structure gives a more accurate picture of how the atoms are

arranged in 3-dimensional space.

Alkanes are important as fuels (CH4 = natural gas, C3H8 = propane (LPG), C4H10 = butane

(disposable cigarette lighters), C5H12 – C10H22 = gasoline, higher order alkanes form kerosene

and airplane fuel (as well as candle wax), and lubricating oils.

Alkanes and cycloalkanes are saturated hydrocarbons. By saturated we mean that each

carbon atom is bound to the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms. That is, there are no

or

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double or triple bonds in the molecule. Unsaturated hydrocarbons contain one or more double

and/or triple bonds between two carbon atoms. In general, an unsaturated molecule contains one

or more double and/or triple bonds between any atoms of two elements.

You may be familiar with these terms for dietary reasons. Fats are sometimes categorized

as saturated, monounsaturated, or polyunsaturated. Saturated fats contain no C-C double bonds,

monounsaturated fats contain 1, and polyunsaturated fats contain 2 or more C-C double bonds.

Hydrogenated fats are mono- and polyunsaturated fats in which some or all of the double bonds

have had hydrogen added. We’ll see how this is done in the next chapter (p. 370). This is

typically done for two reasons. First, double bonds are sites of reactivity. Reaction with oxygen

and other species cause fats to become rancid. Thus, hydrogenating sites of unsaturation

increases shelf life. The second reason is that saturated fats are usually solids, which makes

them easier to store and transport. Sites of unsaturation raise melting points and most mono- and

polyunsaturated fats are liquids.

Unfortunately, what is good for those who make and use fats is not good for those of us who

eat them. The same sites of reactivity that lead to spoilage are sites our bodies use to get them

out of the bloodstream. Also liquid fats are better for us because they won’t form deposits.

When enough saturated fat gets into our bloodstream (and it isn’t all that much), it will deposit in

our arteries and veins because it is not water soluble. Since there is no site of reactivity on it,

once deposited it is difficult to remove saturated fats.

Alkanes and cycloalkanes are part of the aliphatic class of molecules. These are molecules

that do not contain a benzene ring (see below). Aliphatic hydrocarbons may include double and

triple bonds. Molecules containing a benzene ring (a 6 member ring with 3 C-C double bonds)

are called aromatic. A stick diagram of benzene is shown below.

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All hydrocarbons of any type are non-polar. In general, they mix well with one another and

poorly with polar substances. (Aromatic hydrocarbons have a somewhat greater ability to mix

with polar substances than do similar aliphatic compounds.)

11.6 Naming the Alkanes and Cycloalkanes

Your book has organized a set of rules nicely and all I’m going to do here is summarize

them. These rules have been established by the International Union of Pure and Applied

Chemistry (IUPAC).

1) All alkanes end in “–ane.”

2) Pick out the longest continuous chain of carbon atoms in the molecule. Anything attached to

that chain, including other hydrocarbon groups, is a substituent group. The alkane chain is

named according to the following sequence:

1 C = methane

2 C = ethane

3 C = propane

4 C = butane

all other compounds use Greek prefixes to indicated chain length

5 C = pentane 8 C = octane

6 C = hexane 9 C = nonane

7 C = heptane 10 C = decane

3) If the alkane has substituents, begin numbering choosing the side of the alkane with a

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substituent closest to the end.

4) Hydrocarbon substituents begin with the same letters as the chains, but end in “–yl.” (e.g.

CH3– = methyl).

5) If there is more than one group attached, list them in alphabetical order.

6) When two identical numbering schemes exist, the substituent coming first alphabetically

should be assigned the lower number.

7) With cycloalkanes, no number is needed if there is only one substituent. If there are two or

more substituents bound to the ring, the one which comes first alphabetically is assigned the

lower number.

Examples: Name the following molecules:

There are also some common (or trivial) names used for organic chemicals. One type is the

old systematic method. You won’t encounter these names often in this course and from time to

time you will do so outside of it. For example, rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol using the old

naming system and 2-propanol using the IUPAC method. The most important saturated

hydrocarbon side chains with common names are:

2-methylbutane 3-methylheptane

methylcyclopentane 1-ethyl-3-methylcyclohexane

Cl

Br

3-bromo-2-chloropentane

12

isopropyl isobutyl sec-butyl tert-butyl

From what you’ve learned so far, you might have been able to guess that isopropyl alcohol is a

molecule with an –OH group attached to propane. But where? The IUPAC name is 2-propanol

so it is attached to the second (or middle) carbon. In general the prefix “iso” yields a group with

the formula (CH3)2CH(CH2)n-, where n is a positive integer. Thus isopropyl has n = 0 and

isobutyl has n = 1.

A second type is the unique name. Much like the systematic name for water would be

dihydrogen oxide, but no one ever uses it, such names exist in organic chemistry too. (Indeed, if

you look at the alkane prefixes beginning at 5 the prefixes are based on numbers, but 1 – 4 are

based on unique names that later became part of the old and new systems.) An example from a

later chapter will do nicely here.

Consider the molecule: C6H5CH3. From its structure you might guess its name was either

methyl benzene or (as you’ll learn later) phenyl methane. In reality, it is never called either of

these names. It is always called toluene (airplane glue). As we progress through this course, we

will encounter a number of molecules that go by common, rather than systematic names. In

nearly all cases you will see that the systematic name is large and cumbersome, while the

common name is short and frequently easy to remember (Vitamin A vs. 3,7-dimethyl-9-(2,6,6-

trimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-2,4,6,8-nonatetraen-1-ol).

CH3-C-CH3

HCH3-C-CH3

CH3

CH3-C-CH2CH3

H

CH3-C-CH2

H

CH3

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11.7 Chemical Properties of Alkanes

In general alkanes are very non-reactive. They will also usually have the lowest melting and

boiling points of any molecule with the same number of carbon atoms (replacing a hydrogen

atom with any other group will increase molecular polarity and cause greater molecular

attraction). They readily burn (one of the few reactions they engage in with gusto).

CH4 (g) + 3 O2 (g) → CO2 (g) + 2 H2O (l)

In the presence of high energy light and either chlorine or bromine, substitution of a hydrogen

atom by a halogen atom can be effected. This reaction can be repeated until all hydrogen atoms

have been replaced.

CH4 (g) + Cl2 (g) CH3Cl(g) + HCl(g)

January 19, 2002

hν

OH

Vitamin A